TRAFALGAR 18 CONSERVATION AREA AUDIT AREA CONSERVATION SQUARE This conservation area audit is accurate as of the time of publication, February 2003. Until this audit is next revised, amendments to the statutory list made after 19 February 2003 will not be represented on the maps at Figure 7. For up to date information about the listing status of buildings in the Trafalgar Square Conservation Area please contact the Council’s South area planning team on 020 7641 2681. This Report is based on a draft prepared by Conservation, Architecture & Planning. Development Planning Services, Department of Planning and City Development City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QP www.westminster.gov.uk Document ID No: 1130 PREFACE Since the designation of the first conservation areas in 1967 the City Council has undertaken a comprehensive programme of conservation area designation, extensions and policy development. There area now 53 conservation areas in Westminster, covering 76% of the City. These conservation areas are the subject of detailed policies in the Unitary Development Plan and in Supplementary Planning Guidance. In addition to the basic activity of designation and the formulation of general policy, the City Council is required to undertake conservation area appraisals and to devise local policies in order to protect the unique character of each area. Although this process was first undertaken with the various designation reports, more recent national guidance (as found in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 and the English Heritage Conservation Area Practice and Conservation Area Appraisal documents) requires detailed appraisals of each conservation area in the form of formally approved and published documents. This enhanced process involves the review of original designation procedures and boundaries; analysis of historical development; identification of all listed buildings and those unlisted buildings making a positive contribution to an area; and the identification and description of key townscape features, including street patterns, trees, open spaces and building types. Given the number and complexity of Westminster’s conservation areas the appraisal process has been broken down into three stages, the first of which is complete. This first stage involved the publication of General Information Leaflets or mini-guides for each conservation area covering in brief a series of key categories including Designation, Historical Background, Listed Buildings and Key Features. The second stage involved the production of Conservation Area Directories for each Conservation Area. A Directory has now been adopted for 51 of the City’s conservation areas and includes copies of designation reports, a detailed evaluation of the historical development of the area and analysis of listed buildings and key townscape features. The City is now working on a programme to prepare Conservation Area Audits for each of its conservation areas. This will form the third and final stage of the appraisal process. As each audit is adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance it will incorporate the Directory for that conservation area. Trafalgar Square Conservation Area Audit 2 Trafalgar Square Conservation Area Audit 3 CONTENTS PREFACE 1 INTRODUCTION 6 2 HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT 6 3 CHARACTER OF THE CONSERVATION AREA 16 GENERAL 16 HIERARCHY OF STREETS AND SPACES 16 ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BUILDINGS 19 Overview 19 Unlisted buildings of merit 26 Landmark buildings 28 Rooflines and extensions 28 METROPOLITAN AND LOCAL VIEWS 30 CHARACTERISTIC LOCAL TOWNSCAPE DETAILS 32 Railings, boundary walls & enclosure 32 Historic shopfronts 33 Statues and Monuments 34 Street Furniture 36 Historic floorscapes 37 Trees 37 CHARACTERISTIC LAND USES 38 NEGATIVE FEATURES 38 4 DIRECTORY DESIGNATION AND EXTENSIONS LISTED BUILDINGS OTHER DESIGNATIONS Adjacent conservation areas Strategic views Areas of archaeological priority Article 4 directions Regulation 7 direction PUBLICATIONS Design Briefs and Guidelines Further reading. Trafalgar Square Conservation Area Audit 4 Trafalgar Square Conservation Area Audit 5 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The City Council has a statutory duty to review the character and boundaries of its conservation areas. The Audit is the third, and final stage of the appraisal process. The overall appraisal strategy is based upon the English Heritage publication Conservation Area Practice. 1.2 The first stage (Mini-guide) and second stage (Directory) documents have already been adopted. The Mini-guide provides a brief description of the area and its characteristics. The Directory provided a detailed source of factual information. This has now been incorporated as part of the Audit providing an Appendix of factual information to the main body of the report. 1.3 The Audit describes both the historical development, and character and appearance of the conservation area. It is designed to identify and explain important local features such as unlisted buildings of merit, unbroken rooflines and local views. In addition the audit also seeks to apply relevant Unitary Development Plan policies to the local context in order to preserve and/or enhance the character and appearance of the area. 1.4 The Conservation Area Audit for Trafalgar Square was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance by the Cabinet Member for Customer Services on 19 February 2004. The Trafalgar Square Conservation Area was first designated in 1969 as part of the larger Government Precinct Conservation Area. It was redesignated the Trafalgar Conservation Area in 1987 and extended in 1990 and 1993. The designation reports can be found in the first part of the Directory at the back of this document. 2 HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT Saxon Period 2.1 Trafalgar Square is located within the Saxon Settlement of Lundenwic; an important port town described by Bede as 'a mart of many peoples coming by land and sea', just outside the walls of the abandoned Roman city of London. Archaeological evidence suggests that Lundenwic was flourishing by 700 and continued to do so until the late 9th century. The area around Charing Cross (which gains its name from Cierring - a Saxon word meaning bend or turning [in the Thames]) was at the centre of this settlement, which minted its own coins and was engaged in trade with both Viking and Carolingian Europe. The Strand formed the river frontage at that time and was equipped with reinforcing timber piers. 2.2 Lundenwic was subjected to Viking raids in the late ninth century, culminating in an occupation by Viking forces in 872, prompting a re-establishment of the settlement within the protective walls of the former Roman city. Medieval Period 2.3 The northern part of the present Trafalgar Square was common land known as St Martin's Fields, which stretched from the junction of Charing Cross to St Giles-in-the- Fields and Hedge Lane (now Whitcombe Street). Towards the southern part of the field stood the old St Martin's Church, which was built during the reign of Henry II. Trafalgar Square Conservation Area Audit 6 2.4 In 1291 the commemorative cross to Queen Eleanor was erected by Edward I at the junction of the Strand with the road to Westminster Abbey. This cross was the last of the twelve crosses marking resting places of Queen Eleanor's funeral cortege on its way to Westminster Abbey. 2.5 In 1377, during the reign of Richard II the Royal Mews were built. They occupied the greater part of what is now Trafalgar Square. The mews were built to house the Royal falconers and hawks and it was here that the poet Geoffrey Chaucer was once employed as the clerk of works. Post Medieval Period 2.6 After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1530-36, Henry VIII acquired all the lands belonging to the parish of St Martin's and the parish of St Margaret's to the south, which enabled him to lay out St James Park and build St James Palace on the site of the leper house of St James's. York Place (former residence of Wolsey) was converted into the Royal Palaces of Whitehall and three Gate Houses were subsequently erected along Whitehall to provide the necessary protection. The Mews were also undergoing alterations at this time to accommodate the King's stables, following the fire in 1534 at the original stables in Bloomsbury. See Agas map figure 1. 2.7 During this period the risk of catching the plague was high and to avoid the spread of infection to the Court, Henry VIII in 1535 ordered that the parish boundary of St Martin's should be amended to include parts of St Margaret's, thus, corpses no longer needed to pass through Whitehall (where the Royal Palaces lay on both sides of the street) to reach burial at St Margaret's Church. Henry VIII also gave the right of commoning on St Martin's field to the parishioners of St Margaret's and St Martin's Church, which continued until the reign of Elizabeth I. 2.8 Other than the River Thames the road via Charing Cross became the most convenient route to reach Whitehall Palace. In 1554 Sir Thomas Wyatt incensed by the forthcoming marriage of Mary I to Philip of Spain marched through London and confronted Queen Mary's troops at Charing Cross. 2.9 During the reign of Elizabeth I the common land at St Martin's field was leased to a man named Dawson to increase the Crown's revenue. He subsequently divided and enclosed the area, depriving the parishioners of their common rights. Following angry representations, the Queen terminated the agreement as the revenue was so small. 2.10 In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Mews buildings were used for quartering soldiers, and in 1645 over 4000 royalists who were taken as prisoners at Naseby were kept there. Charing Cross, during this century became the site of public executions which attracted large numbers of sympathetic onlookers, in order to protect the Palaces, the Government decided to move the execution site to Tyburn.